***This truck is not for purists, just a trigger warning for all you Barrett Jackson watchers. This truck is a 400 dollar fun ride that I keep going only because I would hate to see it in a junkyard where it would have ended up if anyone other than me owned it. If you don't approve then buy it from me and do what you want with it. Other than that enjoy the thread***

***This truck was in Roadkill magazine, if you don't like or get Roadkill then this truck will not make sense to you.***

I decided to copy and paste my build thread from another website to IN. This started about 2 years ago so the timeline might seem screwy with where the truck is today. It's a trip into the past back to the very beginning. So here we go!

July 23rd 2012

I just paid for this truck today. It's a 1991. Got a good deal on it with the wheels and tires even though I am thinking chrome Cragar Nomad II's and the Nissan SCCA red/white/blue race colors on it. It does have a roof rack which also makes me half tempted to put "Peeping Tom Inc." on the side with a bunch of ladders up top. It's was purchased at Napa Nissan in Napa California. It's only been in NY state for about 4 years. There are scratches on it which is OK with me, I can actually drive it without having paranoia. In 4 years I can get classic car insurance. It's 2wd, it's auto, it the base fleet model with no A/C. It needs fuel lines but overall is in decent shape. If the tranny blows I plan to swap it to 5speed. Here's some pics.

So I towed it home yesterday. Drove it around the yard a bit but noticed that just turning the wheels caused the tires to grab hold of the fenders...no good. So I de-ratted it till I can get some lower profile tires. I did clean it up a bit and did a front brake service...the sliders had no lube!!!! Neither did the pads and that never leads to good things. Who puts brakes on and doesn't lube everything up? Anyway I have a great truck on my hands. Cosmetically it's scratched to hell but mechanically it looks fantastic! The interior even looks new! Got to fix this gas leak in the next couple, got to drop the tank to do that but I've done it before on a much more rotted truck with good results so that should be a walk in the park. I did a quick plateless bonzai run up the street and it runs and shifts good. At $800 I got me a good truck! Here's a couple de-ratted pics.

It's a fleet model so it only came with power steering. No radio but someone tried to install one at some point in the trucks life. It didn't work when I got the truck. Checking with a test light I was able to find the radio was spliced to the cig lighter and the cig lighter fuse had blown. New fuse and a better ground helped get the radio working again. The truck is as spartan as they come...I love it! The steel wheels are cool but I have had a set of American Racing wheels for a few years now that are in good shape. The wheels are leaning against the truck in this pic and the triangles are facing the wrong way but I'll be swapping over to these wheels.

And finally all 3 trucks together.

Got the American Racing wheels installed.

Window tint might be next.

Found a full set of 4x4 flares at the junk yard yesterday. Got the rears mounted as they are plug and play. The fronts require 4x4 fenders which I am not there yet.

I was able to get a pre-made brake line that runs along the frame rail from the dealer for employee pricing the other day. I installed it today without any issues. So far every bolt has turned but that may be because I have been letting everything soak in PB Blaster for the last 3 weeks and hitting the fittings with the vice grips. Every fitting I have attacked has turned by hand, even the super rusty ones. The lines back out of the wheel cylinders without taking the threads with them too so I won't be needing those. The fuel sending unit bolts also came out without a hitch too which means the tank is salvageable, just need a sending unit...mines rusted out. Fuels lines will all be new from Nissan as well. Slowly but surely this thing is going back together nicely...knock on wood. Still building the wooden bed as money permits. I am keeping the red bed and will work on it next spring. Tomorrow I plan on stopping by Advance Auto to grab 2 two pieces of brake line so I can replace the 2 lines along the rear axle, those were so rotten they broke. Might as well replace everything and do it right!For a 21 year old work truck this thing has been pretty decent to work on...so far!

Something odd I noticed about this truck, no proportioning valve. It's not set up for one. I ordered the front to rear brake line by VIN# and they sent me the exact line I took off. I know it's a base fleet model but even my 1981 720 has a prop valve. I wonder what is up with that?

I've only driven the truck a total of 6 miles since I bought it. The fuel leak was so bad I only drove it down the street and back on a dealer plate. It didn't feel weird and stopped just fine. I guess I will find out when I am done with fixing it up.

With the long weekend I decided to tackle installing the fuel return line and the vapor line along the frame rail. Everything looks good. Only one line holding me up, the fuel send line. If Nissan doesn't get it in the next couple days I will end up running FI hose from the tank to the filter on the firewall. All the brake lines are new except for the left front, just waiting for some free time to run up to Advance Auto to buy a pre-made line. After that it's replacing the sending unit, installing the tank and finishing the wooden bed.

Getting very close to having the tank and sending unit complete and reinstalled. Just waiting for some extra cash so I can buy a 25' roll of 5/16" brake line which I plan to flare for the fuel send line. Then it's a about 4 feet of 5/16" FI hose, some clamps and I might see this truck run this year. Crossing my fingers the weather holds out for me.

October 12 2012

Fuel lines and brake lines are done and the truck runs!!!! Runs really good to my surprise. I decided against the wood flatbed and will be re-installing the original bed on it...for now. I just want to drive this thing!

Or the speedo cable does at least...that's what happened to me today after 200 miles of driving. The speedo quit. When I pulled the cluster to check things out half of the speedo cable guts came out with it. Guess it's time to replace it you think?

Other than that I have put 200 miles on the truck and got 24.xx MPG doing it. It's steady and a joy to drive. Needs rear leaf spring bushings and rear shocks but that's understandable for as old as the truck is. We'll get to that though...after I fix this speedo cable issue.

Replacing the speedo cable= piece of cake! $49+tax from the dealer. It fit like a glove. One thing did stand in my way was the rear transmission mount, made it impossible to put a wrench on the end of the cable to loosen it from the transmission. Simple solution, since the cable was bad all I did was cut it off close to the end. That allowed me to put a 22mm socket on it and break it free no problem. I used a pair of channel locks to tighten the new one down. One thing I noticed was both ends of the cable were shot and fell apart in my hands, age and miles I guess. But the good news is I finally know how fast I am going again!

While I was in there I also replaced the squealing alternator belt. Easy on these trucks and cost me $12 after tax. And lastly I swapped the Extang Black Max tonneau cover from the Frontier to this truck, oh it looks so much better. Something I can be proud to drive now. Just got to get the ride height dropped to a more respectable level. All in due time!